Rise of the New Lunar Republic
by Bronieac
Summary: The story of one pony trying to forge a new Equestria, one free of tyranny and filled with peace under Luna's rule. All glory to the NLR. Please review or PM.
1. Chapter 1

"Listen Pinkie," Twilight said, the mild annoyance and exhaustion in her voice growing more and more palpable, "I know normally that you like to throw big parties for guests in Ponyville, especially if they're emissaries from Canterlot, but we need to keep this quiet."

"Are you sure?" asked Pinkie, bouncing in place with excitement, over what was anyone's guess."After all I've got enough balloons, streamers, and candy in my emergency party kit for a real doozy."

"I'm sure you do," Twilight sighed, "but Princess Celestia made it very clear, no one other than the six of us are to know about this."

"Fine, but can we have a party when he leaves?"

"Sure, but what for?"

"How about a party celebrating the use of my emergency party kit?"

"I guess. Pinkie I've got to go, Spike's been swamped the past few days working on the arrangements."

"Okey-dokey-lokey, see you when you're done with your super secret special meeting."

Twilight trotted out of Sugar Cube Corner and let out a sigh of relief. Celestia bless Pinkie but she was best digested in small intervals Maybe Twilight could write a letter on dealing with your friends annoying ticks, that'd be 'a real doozy'. She chuckled at her internal monologue and went on her way, not noticing the solitary gray pony with a brown mane and a covered cutie mark skirting the edges of the streets and ducking in and out of alleyways. No matter how hard she had worked, Twilight couldn't have possibly kept this big of a secret quiet, and sure enough it had a few in Ponyville whipped up into a fervor.

* * *

><p>Maneard peered out from the shadows at Twilight as she passed in the moonlight. Ever since she had taken down that Ursa Minor he'd been careful to avoid her bad-side, and that caution had been reinforced after what happened to Discord. Most of the other ponies took her actions as reasons to trust her, Maneard didn't, a few fabricated crisis's and 'miraculous' rescues weren't enough for him. Once Twilight was well out of sight he darted across the street and ran as fast as he could to the Everfree Forest, and the meeting with his brothers in conspiracy.<p>

"You see anyone that looked like they might be the emissary?" hissed a dark blue unicorn with a chisel and diamond cutie mark on his flank once Maneard got to the edge of the forest.

"No, just Twilight Sparkle roaming the streets. I think she was trying to keep Pinkie Pie from letting the news get out." Maneard whispered back, stopping at the treeline to take one final look back. "We sure Zecora's on our side?"

"I think she's solid, nopony talks to her really for anything other than business, doubt she has any love for the Princess."

"Like any of us do, love isn't the point, the will to stand up for something is."

"We'll never know unless we take a chance, can't exactly keep meeting in the swamps with that hydra, now can we?" the unicron asked, leading Maneard into the forest.

"No, I suppose we can't. I just don't like bringing someone new in, especially with this government representative coming tomorrow."

"What'd the guy who helped us get in contact with the NLR say before we left?"

"Without trust the revolution will crumble and scatter, just like the efforts of our ancestors." Maneard sighed, twisting to pull burs out of his loose mane.

"Exactly, Luna man, I keep telling you to get that thing taken care of." the unicorn snapped, turning around to help him.

"Yeah right, like I'm about to have mine styled like yours. Sorry Gladstone but I'm just not that kind of pony."

"So you'd rather get burrs in it every time we do anything?" retorted Gladstone, giving up and trotting off.

"Yeff, least I don't haff to bruff i' every damn morning like youff." said Maneard, his teeth clenched around a burr.

"Like brushing is difficult or painful at all."

"Maybe not for you and your damn witchcraft, us earth ponies don't have that luxury." he spat.

"The other ponies don't seem to have trouble with it."

"Fine, I'll be sure to ask Doctor Whooves next time I see him how he keeps his mane so immaculate, 'til then can we just drop it and focus on getting through this damnable forest and to Zecora's."

"Sure, go ahead and focus all you want, don't think it'll do much good though." Gladstone replied condescendingly.

"Why the fuck not?" Maneard shoutted, his patience had run out with the burrs and he was tired of pretending to be amiable.

"'Cause we're already here." he said as he pulled back the shrubs to reveal Zecora's hut, the condescension in his voice was enough to make Maneard contempate stabbing his life long friend. Instead he settled for slipping a few burrs into his perfectly kept golden mane.

Maneard opened the door to Zecora's hut grinning broadly, suppressing a laugh from Gladstone's clearly audible swearing. Inside several ponies sat huddled around the table, clearly having just stopped a bout of intense whispering, who all stared up at him when he entered. Most were younger than Maneard, they were just teens going through a rebellious phase probably, but a few were older shop-keeps tired of over taxation. Zecora entered the room bearing a tray of odd-looking fruits and hoof carved cups. Not wanting to seem unfriendly, Maneard took one of each and sat at one of the few open seats, and stifled another laugh when Gladstone entered.

"I hope you are of positive temperment, for that glare could burn a hole through the thickest parchment." Zecora rhymed at him, setting her offering of refreshments on the table.

"Don't worry, Maneard's the only one I'm upset with." Gladstone reassured, sitting across from him and continuing his glare.

"Why are you upset with him, I hope it's not based off a selfish whim?"

"It's just a prank that I'm still sore from, literally, it'll be OK."

"That is good to hear, I would want nothing to get between friends so dear." She said, taking her place at the table.

"Good now that we're all here, let's get down to business." Maneard began, clearing his throat of the surprisingly coarse and sweet fruit.

"But first let's all thank Zecora for letting us all meet here." interrupted Gladstone.

"Yes, thank you Zecora." said Maneard, shooting Gladstone a dirty look. The other ponies muttered thank yous and other various compliments.

"Oh it was no trouble, where I come from we know the importance of the right to rebel."

"Which is why I knew we could trust you." Gladstone muttered, leaning forward to grab a spiny fruit.

"As I was saying," Maneard resumed, "we all know that Celestia is sending an emissary to 'check up on Twilight Sparkle's progress on studying friendship'. We know better than the official story though, we know that he can't possibly be here by coincidence when we have our greatest period of activity and recruitment. We know that he's here looking for us-"

"And just how do we know all this?" interjected one of the other ponies, Maneard recognized them as the quill and couch salesman, he made a mental note to ask him about the relation between his stock later.

"Because paranoia combined with a little logic and knowledge is the perfect recipe for deduction." Maneard said simply. "Now, unless anypony else has pointless questions I'll continue. No? Good. Right, now because of the obvious need for discretion during this time, we'll be shutting down the NLR broadcast system we've set up 'round here. This means we'll be operating in the dark for at least 48 hours while the agent searches Ponyville for any evidence of us. I know this is scary. They find us there's no way we'll get any support or be able to alert our contacts, but it's they only way."

"We'll be distributing escape routes and emergency kits tomorrow afternoon while Maneard makes his rounds." said Gladstone, gulping down a cup of what smelled like tree sap. "Don't open those packets until you're sure we've been found, and once you've committed the route to memory, burn it and leave. This way we can avoid any worries of the destination and routes being revealed to Celestia's men. It's crucial you do this, act like you're being followed at all times because you likely will be. I'm sure I don't need to tell you not to act like we had this meeting or are planning anything."

"Now, any questions?"

The table shook their heads unanimously, Zecora's hoops jingled lightly. Everypony looked terrified. They had all volunteered, but none seemed to think of the cell as an actual rebellion. Maneard admitted to himself until now it had felt more like a cross between a tea party and a PTA meeting, not a 'terrorist' cell. Seeing the meeting was done Maneard stood and walked out. Gladstone followed silently, save for bidding Zecora a goodnight.

Their trip back to Ponyville was much quieter than the one in. They only broke silence to swear at the gnats eating them alive or to huff the forest's infinite supply of spiderwebs out of their faces. When they exited the gloom of the Everfree Forest and entered the crisp clarity of the fields that surrounded Ponyville, Gladstone split away from Maneard, waving a silent goodbye. Maneard stood to watch his friend walk in town before leaving to the old mill where he lived.

The mill sat alone on a hill on the outskirts of Ponyville, and on a night like tonight it stood out as a lonesome silhouette against the sheen of the moon. The only neighbor was Sweet Apple Acres and they seemed content enough to let him alone to his various eccentricities long as he left them to theirs. The only time he'd even spoken to Applejack since they were kids was when his antennae had fallen off and he'd gone over to mend fences. He remembered wistfully when he was a young colt and only had eyes for her, the farm girl next door, such a cliché. Still he coudn't help but let his mind wonder to her as he washed the muck off his coat and stared at her barn across the way.

He entered his house and shook himself of his wishful thinking. He reminded himself that she was the enemy and couldn't be trusted, let alone cared for. He had to remind himself a dozen more times before he was finally in bed and soundly asleep. Though his mind still didn't take the hint it seemed, as his dreams were of her.

Maneard stared at himself guiltily in the mirror in the morning, he remembered his dreams and couldn't deny enjoying them. He sighed, resigning himself to his flaws and went back to getting the emergency orders ready. He'd gotten up early to dismantle his broadcast array and bring the last of the logs up from the chop-field. How a wood mill managed to get set up next to a damn apple orchard was a mystery to him. He made a mental note to ask Granny Smith if there was ever any tension over having a tree butcher next to them next time he saw her.

By the time he was done mapping out a dozen different different routes to the same location for the rest of the cell it was midday and he'd have to hurry to avoid suspicion. Sure he could've made up an excuse for being late but anything that even remotely sounded like a poor excuse would tip them off. He stuffed the packets in his wagon underneath the bundles of firewood and set off into town. He spent the walk in trying to find the right balance between casual, hurried, and stressed by the special visitor. After fifteen minutes of this he gave up, deciding he just looked like a prat with something to hide.

* * *

><p>"Spike, our guest is here." called Twilight, hurrying down the library steps to greet them.<p>

Outside stood a full five wings of pegasus ponies, flanking one unicorn in a flowing velvet cloak. The unicorn stepped off of the gilded carriage and removed the cloak. Her entire body was the same shade as her cloak, her tail and mane cut harshly short. Twilight took a step back in shock, clearly this emissary wasn't the nice intellectual type she'd been hoping for. No, this was a military mare and that meant two days of being barked around.

"Hello you must be Celestia's emissary," Twilight said, extending a hoof, "I'm Twilight Sparkle, and you are..."

"Eager to get started on my inspection." the unicron said curtly. " Is that what Celestia called me, an emissary?"

"Yes. You are, aren't you?"

"More of an inspector. I've been led to believe you here have got a problem with Lunatics."

"I don't know about that," stammered Twilight, following the unicorn as she walked to the town square, "sure everypony enjoyed her visit last autumn but I wouldn't say anyone's trying to make her ruler."

"Maybe not, hell you probably don't, most Lunatics are in the more liberal and industrial areas anyways." she said, taking a bite from an apple she levitated from the stand as she walked by, leaving Applejack mumbling angrily, "My job isn't to go off maybe though, my job is to search everypony from top to bottom. I'm going to be open with you Twilight, that way hopefully I'll be done more quickly, I'm going to be interrogating and searching the homes of everypony I flag as suspect. This could be sped up if you gave me a list of suspicious ponies from the get go."

"List of suspicious ponies?"

"Oh come now, they said you were intelligent." sighed the mare through a mouthful of apple, apple which she seemed to plan on washing down with some stolen tea from the street-side cafe. "You've lived in Ponyville for what a year now, and can't think of anypony? Think, somepony whisper every time your around, never in town when Celestia is, or doesn't celebrate the Summer Sun Festival? Even the smallest detail could be enough. If anypony is a traitor round here they'll either be overly reckless, which isn't likely considering your presence, or highly paranoid and cautious. Despite their caution though most let something slip and that's the thing that leads to an entire cell being unraveled."

"I suppose there's one pony who might..." mumbled Twilight, watching the harsh mare glug down the tea.

"Who?" spat the mare, dropping the cup and letting it shatter with excitement.

"Well, I'm not sure but..."

"Spit it out dammit! We haven't got time for your hesitation."thundered the mare, she was staring at Twilight crazily now, almost hungrily.

"The salesman at the Quill and Sofa store, he's always grumbling about Celestia's taxes on store-owners and how much he hates the whole tribute system for businesses." Twilight said as quickly and fervently as she could, wanting to get it all out before the mare jumped her.

"Good, we have a lead. I'll have my men take him to the library, we've already set up a little interrogation chamber in there."

"You what?" squeaked Twilight.

"We need privacy and quiet for what we do, and what better place for than that than a library?"

* * *

><p>Maneard hoofed out the firewood at his last stop as quickly as he could. The agent had been causing quite a stir in the square from what he heard, she clearly wasn't playing things close to the chest. His first thought was that just made it easier for him, his people would see her coming and have the good sense to burn anything incriminating. His second thought was that his people would see her coming and crack from the sheer intimidation factor, and as much as he hated it, that was the more likely option. He was on his way home when it happened. First the deep boom of the mare blowing open the store then the pleas of the buck as they carted the him off. Maneard's blood went cold, no way was he going to stay quiet, everyone would panic. The mare had forced his hoof.<p> 


	2. Chapter 2

"Maneard what's going on?"

"We need to get the fuck outta here, grab your bag and let's go."

"What was with that explosion, those screams, did someone go militant?" with that last word Gladstone's voice became soft and hoarse, his face was painted with guilt.

"No, don't worry," comforted Maneard, resting a hoof on Gladstone's shoulder, "but we need to go. They got the quill guy and something tells me he wont hold out long before letting everything slip."

"What tells you that, he was one of the first to join up when you started the cell, wasn't he?"

"Yes, but something tells me he only wanted to play revolutionary." sighed Maneard, shaking his head. "He'll crack under a little bit of pressure, so get your things."

"How do you know that?"

"I've always been good at reading people, you know that man. C'mon we need to go before they start rounding up other ponies."

* * *

><p>The library had been rearranged into a full scale interrogation and holding chamber: a single shaft of sunlight illuminating a lone chair, a set of manacles stained with a red residue that Twilight didn't want to think about, and of course a tray of really sharp looking knives laying just at the edge of visibility. Actually to Twilight it looked more like a torture chamber than an interrogation room. The Mare though seemed more than comfortable in these conditions, she kept swaying from side to side and humming a eerily happy song, while picking up and examining each knife closely. This really freaked out the poor buck they had bound and gagged in the seat.<p>

"Right, this is how things'll go, you answer my questions and I keep you in one piece." crooned the Mare, her voice a mixture of seductive warmth and terrifying hostility. "If you don't, well they say torture doesn't get good intel, I say they just don't know how to torture properly. Do you understand? Nod."

The shop-keep nodded, a tear was silently rolling down his cheek. Twilight wanted to run up and give him a hug, but that tray looked like it had been used a few too many times.

"Good, I'll take your gag off and you'll tell me your name. Then I'll give you mine. They say all relationships are give and take don't they?"

The Mare picked up the largest and craziest looking blade on the tray, slipped it beneath the gag, and dragged it along the buck's cheek. Twilight was pretty sure that was going to leave a scar.

"I'm Calamus." stammered the buck, the tears and blood mixed on his cheek, making it look like he was crying blood.

"Call me Celestia, cause I might as well be far as you're concerned." the Mare whispered creepily into the buck's ear. "I'm your judge, jury, and executioner. Unless you want to be found guilty and promptly executed, you'll cooperate. First and last question: who else is in the cell?"

"What cell?" stammered Calamus, trying and failing to sound brave.

"That a joke? Sorry I don't get it." her voice was getting incredibly disturbing now. Her words had a manic sing-song quality to them that made Twilight's blood run cold. "Now do yourself a favor and cut the comic routine. We know you're involved in a terrorist cell here in Ponyville. If you're so thick you don't know what a cell is, it's what we call your group of revolutionaries in the intelligence business. I can tell you aren't the leader, because that pony's smart enough to evade detection, so you are expendable. The only thing keeping you alive is what you know, don't think that's worth it, I don't mind a little extra leg work rounding up everypony in this town. There's an entire cell's worth of ponies out there who know what you do, probably more too, the only reason I'm bothering is you were the lowest hanging fruit. This is your last chance to answer my questions before I kill you." and after a moment of consideration she added. "Slowly."

"I-I don't know everypony, just a few." the fear in Calamus' voice was palpable now, the tears were streaming down his face, he looked the picture of pathetic.

"That'll do."

"The leaders are Maneard and Gladstone," he blubbered, trying to keep his voice even, "the only others I know the names of are Rose, Bon Bon, and Zecora."

"Wait Zecora, no she can't, she wouldn't." Twilight interjected.

"You know her?" for once the Mare broke the whole menacing voice act, she actually let a tone of surprise intrude into her bad ass torturess image.

"She's a zebra who lives in the Everfree Forest. Why would a zebra be involved in a Lunatic cell?"

"I don't know, zebras tend to stay out of Equestrian politics."

"She said she knew the importance of standing up to tyranny, maybe she's just sympathetic with the whole revolutionary idea." volunteered Calamus, clearly trying to get on the Mare's good side.

"Look who's playing cooperative now. Like I said, give and take. That would make sense, the zebras have been 'freedom fighters' for generations, responding to generations of warlords."

"I thought the zebras were at peace, finally unified a few years ago."

"That's half true. The only way they were able to make a single nation was by letting the majority of the warlords keep they're powers as 'governors'. Who knows maybe Zecora has a crush on this Maneard, rebel complex or something."

"So, what do we do now?" Twilight asked hesitantly, not sure if the answer would be one she liked.

"First we thank our friend here," the Mare nodded to the pegasus guards waiting in the shadows, one pulled out a short dagger and ran it across Calamus' throat, "then we round up the conspirators simultaneously. Since Zecora lives in the forest and most likely wont be in the loop, we'll get her last. Do you know where the rest of the ponies our dearly departed mentioned lives?"

"I can't say I do, but I'm sure one of my friends does." whispered Twilight, staring at Calamus' still spasming corpse.

"Oh Twilight," sighed the Mare, "don't tell me this was your first rodeo." Twilight nodded silently. "I'm sorry it had to be so rough kid," the Mare put a cold, yet still somewhat comforting, hoof on her shoulder, "we couldn't let him tip off the rest of the cell, and honestly he pissed me off with that 'what cell' shit."

ma

"We need to make sure everypony is on their way out, make sure they're headed to the right place." called Gladstone, he'd hidden his go-bag a little too well and Maneard had been waiting for him to find it for twenty minutes now."

"No, we do that and not only are they going to be exposed but so will we."

"So we can't do anything?"

"Unfortunately, no." sighed Maneard, shaking his head slowly.

"Not everyone is like you Maneard," Gladstone shouted exasperated, the bitterness in his voice resonating in the halls of his house as if a thousand tired ponies were yelling at him, "you're the only pony I know who examines and reexamines every single detail of any plan they make. Those other ponies, they trusted you and you're just going to leave them to the whim of Celestia's hell hound. We can't do this, I can't let you do this."

"I tried to teach them the best I-" Maneard began, but he just couldn't do it, he thought he could do the 'right thing' and leave them all to their fate, but he was wrong. "I can't help any of the ponies in town but I can help someone."

"Who?" Gladstone perked up at this, the resentment in his voice was gone.

"Zecora, everypony else is fair game when the shop-keep squeals though. Zecora is the only one who's isolated enough for us to meet with, besides our route had us going by her place anyway."

"Speaking of which, where are we going?"

"I'll tell you as soon as I know."

* * *

><p>"OK, so we know where everypony is thanks to your cooperation, what we really need now is intel." said the Mare to the room at large, at Twilight's call the whole gang had come running." I would normally just send men to the conspirators' houses for a cell this size, but this cell's peeked my interest. Sure they got sloppy letting that chump know anything, still they managed to run under the nose of Celestia's favorite student, and Celestia herself on occasion. A cell needs communication to run, contact to the NLR underground, that's hard to hide in a town this size."<p>

"Tell us what you need and we will provide to the best of our abilities." said Rarity, how she managed to sound pompous still despite present company was miraculous to Twilight.

"What do any of you know about Gladstone or Maneard?"

"Well I would be the one to know the most about Gladstone, he's under my employ after all." Rarity actually puffed up with pride at this, the Mare was all to happy to deflate her.

"Wait so he even managed to be the employee of one of you and go undetected? Either these guys are the best amateurs I've ever seen or you're damn unobservant."

"Well, when I say under my employ I mean I really just contracted him more often then most, so he was like an employee. I didn't actually mean he was on my payroll or anything so absurd as that." bumbled Rarity , doing her best to save face.

"Contracted, for what?" the Mares steely gaze just worsened Rarity's blubbering to the point she was incoherent, the Mare just chuckled at this.

"He was a stone cutter." said Rainbow Dash, swooping to her friend's rescue yet again. "Mostly high end gem stones, so Rarity here hired him a lot to cut stones for her pieces, right Rare?"

"Y-yes, thank you Rainbow Dash."

"OK, that explains how they set up communications, or at least built the raw materials for it. A gem cutter would have no trouble making an antenna array, but that doesn't explain everything. They'd need someone to make contact with the NLR, get recruits, smooth over any wrinkles of suspicion."

"Well ah'd say you jus' described wha' Maneard's best at t' a T." said Applejack enthusiastically.

"Did I now?" the Mare put a surprising amount of menace into these words, even for her.

"Yep, he's always been a smooth talker, why ah remember when we were jus' a couple a lil foals he could talk his way outta any trouble he got int' with the teacher."

"Well I think we've found the brains of the operation then. We'll hit Maneard's house hard first, then Gladstone's, and finally work out way down the food chain. I trust you can lead us to his house Applejack."

"Course ah can, he's muh next door neighbor 'fter all."

"Is he now, good you'll be able to give us a better approach than head-on."

* * *

><p>"I still can't believe you kept a go-bag under your wagon." chuckled Galdstone.<p>

"Why, that way it'd be with me no matter where I went pretty much, where'd you keep yours?"

"I didn't, I just lied so you wouldn't yell at me back there."

"And what makes you think I wont now?"

"Because you don't want to draw attention, even though we're in the forest you still keep looking behind you every few minutes."

"I don't like this, they've got enough manpower to hit everywhere at once from what I heard. And those pegasus guards don't need to stay on our level to follow."

"Luna, you're paranoid man. Relax, in a few minutes we'll be at Zecora's and you can tell us where we'll be going. You've figured that out right?" the worry in Gladstone's voice reminded Maneard of just how up a creek he was, he really didn't like that.

"Nope, still thinking." he sighed.

"Maybe if you take your mind off things you'll think better. Think happy thoughts."

He chose to think of the agent kicking down his front door and finding a little surprise.

* * *

><p>"Right here's the plan, Sergeant take your men around the the back and sides. I'll take a wing and breech the front door. If we maintain rapid dominance procedures this Maneard shouldn't have a chance to think 'oh fuck' before we take him down." the Mare whispered, peeking over the edge of AppleJack's fence. The Sergeant nodded curtly and motioned his men to fly into position.<p>

"What should we do?" asked Twilight nervously, again she wasn't sure she wanted the answer.

"Stay here, trust me you wont want to see this."

"What's rapid dominance?" hissed Rainbow Dash.

"Sounds garish." murmured Rarity.

"Shock and awe." replied the Mare, grinning so broadly it sent shivers down Twilight's spine, of course so did everything this pony did.

The Mare hopped over the fence and galloped to the front door of the mill, staying as low as she could. She slammed against the house and set a hoof on the nob. Three guards fell in silently behind her. Twilight couldn't hear what she was saying but guessed it was a countdown. The mare swung open the door violently and ducked in. For a few brief moments the house was still, then it erupted. The Mare jumped out of the window as the entire mill went up in an inferno. Twilight ran to the Mare's side, Applejack and Rainbow Dash right behind her.

"Well this confirms it." the Mare coughed, looking back at the burning mill.

"What?" the group asked in unison.

"These guys are the best amateurs I've ever seen, or at least the most paranoid."

* * *

><p>"Zecora get your things, we're bugging out." Maneard called after her from outside.<p>

Gladstone was already shoving her various bits and bobs into one of her bags. Maneard stood outside and kept watch for royal guards. Zecora just stood dumbfounded in the main room.

"What is going on-" she began, her voice was almost indignant.

"We've been discovered, in a few minutes they'll be on their way if they already aren't." Maneard interrupted, he was not in the mood for her nursery rhyme way of speaking.

"But I thought you were careful, you said there was no chance of trouble."

"We were, they found out that damn shop-keeper. You wanna be pissed at someone be pissed at him." growled Maneard, not only did she insist on speaking in rhymes but she dared to call him careless. Him when he was the one who'd made a dozen fucking escape routes this morning. "Now if you would please grab your things, not all of them just enough for a few days and the irreplaceables."

"Where exactly are we going, I don't like this not knowing?"

"That's just it, I doubt that buck was able to burn the route I gave him, so the safe house isn't safe anymore. We need to go somewhere and lay low while I get in touch with the NLR."

"What about Manehattan?" offered Gladstone, handing Zecora a bag brimming with potions and food.

"Why Manehattan, that's a long walk through open country, y'know?"

"It's a massive city, it'll be hard to find three ponies there, even a zebra could blend in. Also think about it, there's bound to be a NLR cell or at the very least sympathizers there."

"It's ideas like that, Gladstone, that make our relationship what it is. You're a fucking genius."

"Manehatten it is, let's go before the ghosts Maneard keeps seeing become real."


	3. Chapter 3

"You got them all? You're sure? And none of them put up a fight? Well nothing you couldn't handle I'm sure? Good I've got enough paperwork with that Calamus shit-head's body. Everything clear? OK come on back, I'll buy you a cider." the Mare seemed more worn out by the firebomb Maneard left for her than worried. She made it seem like it was nothing but another long day at the office. Twilight prayed that her long days would never included executions, explosions, and multiple arrests.

"I've got a spare bed in one of the rooms of the library all set up for you, if you want to get some rest that is." stammered Twilight, even though she had turned off psycho killer mode, the Mare still scared her witless.

"Thanks kid but I need to wait for all the guards to get back, process the terrorists, and then transport them to a proper dungeon in Canterlot."

"Oh alright then, hope your next time in Ponyville is less eventful."

"Oh I don't know," chuckled the Mare, "I had fun dealing with a bunch of amateurs, it was like a vacation."

"A vacation. You do remember the whole mill exploding thing, right?"

"Oh I remember, it was the highlight in fact." she replied, the laugh in her voice becoming more pronounce and a manic glint coming into her eye. "It was like a theme park ride, got the adrenaline going real nice. It's been years since I had this much fun in one day."

"OK then," said Twilight nervously, "unless you need anything else I'll be going to bed."

"Oh just one thing deary," the combination of these innocent almost motherly sounding words and the dark laugh still in the Mare's voice made all of Twilight's hairs stand on end, "take my card. I know this case looks closed, and as far as the higher ups are gonna be concerned it will be, but I'm taking it on as a pet project. I'll call to check in every now again, make sure everyone that manages to avoid jail time is on the up and up, see if there are any stirrings of remnants. Basic leg work."

Twilight took the card the Mare had levitated in front of her. It was surprisingly plain and official looking, she had been expecting some creepy shadowy embossment or something. Hell she had been expecting it to radiate the same 'slit your throat for the hell of it' vibes the mare was. She was just about to let out a laugh at her own foalishness, expecting a demonic business card how stupid, and then she read the name on it.

"Your name's Blood Diamond." as she read it out loud the familiar 'holy shit, holy shit, holy shit' feeling washed over her.

"Yep, why something strange about it?" the Mare snapped back into her tired 'normal' self and raised an eyebrow, like Twilight was the crazy one in the pair.

"Nope, it fits you perfectly."

"That's exactly what all of my coworkers say." shouted the Mare exasperated. " You might find it hard to believe but I've got the reputation of being a real head hunter."

The Mare stood there stone-faced like she was deadly serious. Twilight looked at her incredulous, not sure how to react. That reputation was dead-on and probably well earned, yet the Mare acted like it was the most foreign thing to her. After a very uncomfortable thirty seconds, the Mare let out a raucous laugh.

"You should've seen the look on your face kid, like you'd seen an ursa major tap dancing." the Mare choked out, wiping away tears. "Look kid, I just do my job. Unfortunately for my karma and the people I hunt, that means a lot of body bags. I don't like it everyday, but I try to most so I can stay sane."

Twilight let out a very audible sigh of relief. She realized for the first time that since the Mare had appeared the majority of her muscles had been tightly clenched. The Mare laughed again and slapped her on the shoulder.

"C'mon you need some sleep."

"Can I ask a stupid question?" Twiliight asked, even though she was suddenly exhausted her curiosity was still wide awake.

"Shoot."

"Why take it on as a pet project if you know the case is closed?"

"Because the last person to firebomb their own house in case of a raid was a major player in the NLR. I'm not saying that Maneard's a high ranking buck, just has all the makings of one. That and it's better than gardening."

* * *

><p>"Gladstone, I'll be back in a few minutes, gonna see if that cave up there is clear." Maneard whispered hoarsely.<p>

They had been had been maintaining a near constant gallop since the Everfree Forest. Zecora seemed like she could go another few miles, but Maneard and Gladstone were on the point of collapse and the sun was coming up soon. It might just be more of his paranoia but Maneard felt like staying out of sight during the day was likely for the best. The cave was shallow and narrow from what he could feel in the dark but it would do. He slouched off his saddle bags, pulled out a bundle of logs, and started a fire. When he exited the cave Zecora and Gladstone were having a hushed conversation near the mouth.

"How do you know they aren't following, it's and awfully big gamble you're taking?" even after 40 miles of running she still found the energy to rhyme, for once Maneard was more impressed by it than annoyed.

"Hopefully it'll take them a while to round everyone up and realize we aren't one of the poor ponies they've got." Gladstone said, his voice carrying the weight of mile.

"Don't think I didn't notice you dodged my question, how do you know we'll survive this mission?"

"We don't." Maneard answered, motioning them to follow him into the cave with a wave. "Fact is I'm sure they are following us, probably not more than half a day behind, that's why we're sleeping in a cave and traveling at night. If we pull another run like tonight's we should make to Manehattan by sun up." Maneard fell onto his side by the fire.

"You sure we can make another night like that?" asked Gladstone, falling back onto his haunches and lighting a smoke off the fire."

"Not if we don't get some sleep and eat up afterwords."

"Well then g'night, I'm sure I'll be able to make us something passable out of the MRE's you packed." Gladstone sighed through clenched teeth, laying onto his back.

"That'll be a fucking miracle." laughed Maneard.

"For two who wish to sleep, you sure do like to speak." Zecora chimed in, warming her back against the fire.

"I'll take the hint, g'night Zecora."

* * *

><p>"Oh Blood Diamond, I thought you'd left this morning." said Twilight, rubbing weariness out of her eyes.<p>

Blood Diamond sat at a table in the Library's atrium flipping through a dozen files the size of her head. Her mane was wild and unkempt from lack of sleep. The stress of the whole situation was written across her face.

"No," she groaned, " the Sergeant was wrong about rounding everypony up last night. He forgot about Maneard, Gladstone, and Zecora so I've got some more legwork 'round here."

"Legwork?" asked Twilight tentatively.

"Oh don't worry kid, the exciting bit's over."laughed Blood Diamond, "I'm just going to go ask your friend Applejack some more questions about Maneard."

"Oh, ok. Wait, don't you want to ask Rarity more about Gladstone?"

"Nah, the terrorists we did catch made it clear that Gladstone was number two in the relationship. If anything Gladstone's been keeping Maneard reigned in, persuaded him from bringing a stronger NLR presence. Plus I don't think Rarity's dignity could survive another round of questioning." Blood Diamond chuckled at her own joke and made her way slowly to the door, the weariness of a night with nothing but paperwork weighing down her every step. "Hey come with me, you might be able to think of more questions then me with a nights sleep in you." She called from the doorway, Twilight didn't doubt it and quickly trotted to her side.

The walk through Ponyville was a quiet and tense one. It wasn't tense from Blood Diamond, well not directly. Twilight had somehow grown a little comfortable around the Mare despite her unsettling disregard for everything. No, the tension was from the resident's of Ponyville, who treated Blood Diamond like she was about to go crazy at the slightest provocation. Twilight couldn't blame them considering the Quill and Couch store's front was now little more than a pile of rubble after her 'tactical entry'. Still the berth they were giving them was more befitting an ursa minor than a government Agent.

"So what's going to happen to the prisoner ponies?" Twilight piped up, she couldn't stand the silence any longer, it was making her skin start to crawl.

"That depends on how much they cooperate and how good of a lawyer they can get." said Blood Diamond matter-of-factly. "The ones who resisted will probably get a couple decades in some secret prison before being transferred into a lower security one for the rest of their lives. Ones who talked freely have at most five years in the palace dungeon to worry about, less if they agree to sign papers condemning those who escaped. The ones with deep pockets though will either get a year of probation and in prison or a massive fine with a few years of probation." This all poured out of her mouth as if she had said it a thousand times before, the whole punishment process sounded pointlessly routine the way she told it.

"Isn't probation and a fine a little light for terrorism?"

"Not really, the sentencing doesn't really work. Fact is true believers will be terrorists regardless of how long you lock them up, the rest are typically scared straight by me kicking in their doors and questioning them. The prisons are more for the papers and reassuring the public than anything."

They fell silent after this, Twilight wasn't able to think of another conversation topic. Plus her mind was reeling with the cynical look behind the curtain Blood Diamond had just given her. When she was a little pony she'd read all the spy thrillers and crime dramas the library had. She would pretend to be some super secret agent or a quick witted detective like the ponies in the books. Blood Diamond made the line between fact and fiction clearer and more boring in Twilight's mind than anything else ever could have. She just hoped it wasn't as pointless as Blood Diamond made it out to be. In the end Twilight just chalked it up to cynicism and lack of sleep, no way that it was all true.

She'd been so wrapped up in her self reassurance that Twilight hadn't noticed where her hooves had taken her. They were at the gate of Sweet Apple Acres and Blood Diamond was calling out to Applejack as she passed with a cart full of apples.

"Well howdy, y'all." Applejack said warmly, unhitching herself from the cart to trot over to them. "Ah figured you'd be long gone by now Miss..."

"Blood Diamond."

"Blood Diamond." Applejack said it like it was a normal everyday name for a pony but her face sold her out. It clearly said 'holy fucking shit that's creepy.' "So what can Ah do you, fir?"

"Just need you to answer a few follow up questions on Maneard: personal history, family, et cetera."

"Oh well then ask away."

"Why didn't you seem surprised at the news Maneard was a terrorist leader?"

"Oh well," stammered Applejack nervously, "he's become of a bit of a recluse these past few years y'see, since Luna came back Ah mean. Far as the leader bit, he was always the alpha-pony type back when we were little 'nes. Oh and his cutie mark, he's kept it covered but Ah remember it well enough."

"His cutie mark." Blood Diamond said, clearly meaning 'you've got to be shitting me.'

"Yep, he's got a big ol' moon for a cutie mark."

"Wait, are you telling me he's got a talent for astronomy or something, and that makes him into an obvious terrorist?"

"No, the craters form something. Ah can't remember what though,'s been too long since Ah saw it. Remember him saying it meant he was destined to be a talk radio host when he was little though."

"I guess when Luna came he started interpreting it a little differently then." Twilight added, trying to become more than an audience member.

"I guess you're right about that. Any reason he'd go to the NLR though? He ever talk to you about it?" Blood Diamond asked, her voice letting in just a hint of accusation.

"Nope, like Ah said he's been a real recluse since the his parents died. Just been working the mill and going in to town to get supplies or talk to Gladstone."

"How did his parents die?"

"Oh well it's down right sad. Ah don't really feel all that comfortable talkin' about it." Applejack said sullenly, hanging her head to let her hat cast a shadow across her face. "His parents were there on Red Sunday. They got caught in the cross fire."

They stood in silence for a few long moments, shifting awkwardly as if trying to dance around the can of worms they'd accidentally opened.

"Anything else you can think of we should know about him, places he might go or do?" Twilight asked, breaking the uncomfortable stillness.

"Not really, his parents were his only kin far as Ah know."

"Well thank you for your help Applejack." said Blood Diamond, laying a hoof on her shoulder. "We'll get out of your mane. I'm sorry to bring up such painful memories of your friend." Twilight was dumbstruck at the out of character tenderness she was suddenly displaying.

"He's been gone a long time honestly," Applejack replied, a single tear was rolling slowly down her cheek, "he used to be so alive, happy. He helped me get through muh parent's death back when. Ah tried to help him, I honestly did. He just stood there when I went to his house the day I found out. He looked dead, like the gunshots had hit him." Applejack's voice cracked and she fell silent. Twilight wrapped her up in her forelegs, her heart breaking for Applejack. Blood Diamond stood there shifting awkwardly again.

A few minutes later Blood Diamond and Twilight left. Twilight couldn't stop feeling so sorry for Applejack. To lose a friend to a tragedy like that must have been awful, no doubt she blamed herself for him ending up a recluse and terrorist. She was too busy worrying about Applejack to notice Blood Diamond walk away to join the guards sitting outside a cafe. Too wrapped up in her pity for her friend to spare a though for the buck that was the cause of it.

* * *

><p>"That's big." said Gladstone in awe.<p>

"No that's fucking gigantic." countered Maneard.

"You are both wrong, that is worthy of a thousand songs." piped up Zecora, speaking for the first time since they had left the cave at sundown.

"You're definitely the closest." replied Gladstone, still staring up at the Manehattan skyline.

They had galloped for hours to come to the outskirts of the metropolis. The lights from it rivaled the sun in sheer brilliance, turning night into midday. Maneard fell back onto his haunches, in a mixture of shock and exhaustion.

"I don't think we're in Ponyville anymore Gladstone." he said, leaving his jaw to hang wide open.

"I think you're right about that."

"What do we do now, you said we would be able to blend with the crowd?"

"We find a cheap motel, hunker down while I try and find the NLR cell here."

"You think it will be so easy, not even Celestia has found them in this city."

"Celestia doesn't have an antenna configured to pick up and send NLR broadcasts." Maneard retorted, not breaking his gaze at the city before him. "How long will it take you to cut a new gem?"

"A few hours, maybe more, depends on how well I remember it."

"Alright, well then let's get moving." Maneard sighed, getting up and walking slowly towards the city limits. "We can't just wait out here for somepony to come and invite us in.


	4. Chapter 4

Maneard admired Gladstone for doing his best to find a silver lining to the dank room they were sitting in. The floors of the motel they found were stained with what looked like a mix of blood, saliva, and urine; the walls had been painted with what could be best described as puke green; and the entire place had a thin greasy coating that rubbed off with the slightest touch onto their coats. Gladstone had said it had a lived in feeling. Maneard agreed so long as the previous occupants had been a bunch of vomit-spewing puss sacks. Which when he thought about it they probably were.

At least it had all the qualities he'd been looking for in a temporary hideout: good enough reception for the antenna, multiple nearby exits, and a no questions asked policy. The receptionist had charged them extra for what she called the skyline view, in reality their view was of a brick wall they were just above the 10th floor. Maneard decided to write it off as an ignorance tax and go on his way, worth the signal strength in the end. Zecora was keeping dead quiet. The receptionist had tried to engage her in conversation, saying she made friends with the zebra musicians that passed through, that she loved the stories of their homeland. Zecora just stared at her blankly and Gladstone had made something up about only being able to speak our language through song. Maneard had laughed at the half-truth under his breath for at least 10 minutes.

"Where are you going?" Gladstone asked sleepily, looking at Maneard theough half shut eyes as he walked to the door.

"I'm going to grab some breakfast, get the lay of the land."Maneard explained, pulling the wooly jacket he had bought from a homeless man the night before over himself.

"Aren't you exhausted?"

"Course I am, but I doubt we'll be able to stay here more than a week."

"Pick me up something, will ya?" groaned Gladstone, rolling over to let the light from the hallway hit his back.

"Thought you were going to sleep?"

"I am, but I'm still starving."

The area around the motel was colorful to say the least. Drug dealers shared the street corners with the hookers that were addicted to to their wares. A homeless pony dozed drunkenly next to a garbage can overflowing with booze bottles. Somepony walked by with a cardboard sign with 'the end is nigh' and 'repent' written on the sides. The whole scene looked like it had been purpose built to make any city pony's skin crawl or country pony turn and run. Maneard looked straight ahead of him, being careful to avoid eye contact, and picked a random direction to walk.

He was going to get breakfast, but first he wanted to get some bearings on his surroundings. They had been more concerned with finding a place to stay than figuring out just where they were. The more he walked the worse the area became, and the more reassured he felt. No way somepony asking questions in this cesspool would get anywhere. The residents probably wouldn't even give a cop the time of day, let alone the whereabouts of some strangers.

Eventually his wandering led him to the a nice enough looking bakery. Nice enough because none of its windows had bars or cracks running down them. He slipped in and the rough looking mare behind the counter gave him a gap filled smile. Her wares didn't look much better either, some clearly moldy others covered in dust and cobwebs. Maneard let out a sigh. He never thought he'd feel homesick about Applejack's pies or Derpy's muffins, but sure enough he was missing them and the mares that made them right now. After a quick trip down memory lane, him and Applejack bucking apples for a bet against Big Macintosh, he picked the three least deadly looking pastries out of the display and walked back to the motel.

When he cracked open the door Gladstone and Zecora were fast asleep in their beds. So deeply that they didn't even twitch when he closed the door and fell onto the couch. Maneard let out a low groan and rested his head on the arm of the couch. His legs burned and cramped every time he shifted positions. His eyes stung from exhaustion but sleep wouldn't come. No matter how much he begged and pleaded for the world just to go away for a little bit, his mind wouldn't let him. There was work to be done still, sleeping was time being unproductive they couldn't afford.

After another thirty minutes of pleading with his worry to leave him alone just long enough for him to get some sleep, he gave up and slumped off the couch. He staggered stiffly to his saddle bags and started fiddling with the binding. He made a deal with himself, if he built the array he could go to sleep. Well the entire array except the stone that would actually send and receive the signals, that was up to Gladstone. Maneard started methodically snapping legs and braces together, bending this bit here, torquing that fitting there. The slow pace and tedium was just his speed, he felt himself start to slip into a doze, his eyelids grew heavy.

"Weren't you just a busy little bee last night."

"Wuh?" groaned Maneard.

"Come on sleepy head, we need to get to work."

Maneard pulled his head off the cheap plastic table it had been resting on. Gladstone stood in front of him, chewing loudly on one of the muffins he'd gotten earlier. The array stood in front of him, fully assembled. Maneard got to his feet and let out a loud groan as the feeling came back in his legs.

"Guess you were on one of your 'gotta get it done' kicks." said Gladstone, his voice muffled by a mouthful of muffin. "We'll need another one of those, press just got wind of what happened."

"How much do they know?"

"Fair bit, pinning the explosion at Calamus' shop on us though. Calling it a minor terrorist attack, some have theorized that we were just testing out one of the NLR's newest demolition spells."

"How many of our people's deaths are we being blamed for?" sighed Maneard, rubbing his eyes.

"Just Calamus, guessing that means everypony else cooperated."

"Yep. Where's the muffins?"

"On top of your saddlebags, Zecora already had her's."

"Where's she now?"

"Bathroom."

"I'm thinking we run with the punk rock cover story the receptionist gave us. Nopony's gonna ask to many questions of that."

"Makes sense." Gladstone said, cramming the last of the muffin into his mouth. "Any headway on finding the NLR?"

"Nope, gonna go bar hopping tonight, see if I can flush out anypony."

"What's your plan, go in and shout 'long live Celestia'?"

"Something like that."

* * *

><p>Blood Diamond groaned as she fell back into her chair. Her office was normally cramped, but thanks to the mountains of paperwork that came with the raid on Ponyville it was even more so. She pushed several pounds of manilla folders out of the way and flicked her terminal on. Images of her raid on Ponyville popped up alongside over a dozen different agents synopsis's of the prisoner's confessions. The fact that all of them seemed to crack the moment the black bags were taken off made Blood Diamond chuckle.<p>

She closed the half dozen windows and pulled up the newly gathered files of Maneard, Gladstone, and Zecora. Gladstone's was annoyingly dull, nothing in it but how much of a model citizen he was. Zecora managed to be a bit more interesting. Research grants, Science Visas, even a couple of commendations from Celestia herself about random herbal discoveries. Finally Blood Diamond clicked on Maneard's file, now that one was juicy.

The first thing to greet her when she opened the dossier was his mugshot with terrorist in giant block letters underneath it. Not even Gladstone had gotten that treatment yet. The rest was absolutely enthralling. Papers accusing Celestia of tyranny and corruption being traced to his name; evidence of him being at various NLR training camps; most deliciously a speech of his at an infiltrated recruitment rally. Blood Diamond downloaded the clip for later. Listening to the newest member of the terrorist hunt list's first moments of NLR allegiance would be a lovely thing to wind down to. She closed the window and got up, not wanting to spoil the thrills of Maneard's file with his no doubt tragic past.

* * *

><p>The warehouse shook and bounced in unison. Maneard sheilded his eyes from the ever flashing and changing lights behind jet black sunglasses that he suspected could block out the sun. In the farthest corner if the massive building stood DJ Pon3 bobbing to the incomprehensible noise she was mixing. Everything else though was nothing but smoke and silhouettes. Maneard found the bar more out of instinct and luck than anything else. The ponies around it were are sipping elaborate and violently colored cocktails.<p>

"Hardest cider you've got." Maneard shouted over the rave's music, getting the barkeeps attention.

"How do you want it?" was the gruff dark brown pony's response.

"Straight." chuckled Maneard, noting the pony's cutie mark was a ocktail shaker.

"You've already got your mark, no need proving yourself. What do you really want?"

"You don't fuck with a good thing. Cider, straight."

"Shamrock would like you, go order from him."

"Why can't you just-"

"Trust me, he's just over there," the barkeep pointed to the far end of the bar, "the gray pony with a cloverleaf on his flank."

Maneard groaned and started sidestepping his way down the bar. Apologizing over half a dozen times for accidentally bumping into somepony or jostling their elaborate drinks. By the time he got to Shamrock he was quietly fuming. All this for a fucking cider, one that was probably going to be warm piss compared to what Applejack used to brew.

"I was told I had to order from you." Maneard called after the stallion while he balanced a tray of bottles on one of his hooves.

"Guess you ordered a real drink den," Shamrock replied in a breezey yet still firmly masculine voice, "what are you having, bucko."

"Hardest cider, nothing fucked with."

"A stallion after me own heart." Maneard internally danced with joy when Shamrock pulled out a Sweet Apple Acres bottle and poured it into a mug. Simple and fucking great. "Sorry 'bout Mixer, he only knows the filly drinks the ponies round here like."

"It's no problem, doubt he'd have even given me the right bottle if he'd done his job." Maneard joked knocking back the mug in one gulp.

"You'd be right there." shouted Shamrock, laughing loudly. "Tell me where you're from, lad."

"I might ask you the same thing."

"Damlin, thought you might be wonderin'."

"Manehattan."

"Bullshit." he chuckled, pouring himself a mug.

"Why's that."

"Cause you order and drink your cider like a pony from better stock than what they grow here." he answered, grinning. "Not to mention you look like you've actually worked on honest day in your life."

"I'm from the country, let's leave it at that for now."

"Ah a pony with secrets, and shite. What are you some terrorist?" Maneard laughed loudly with the barpony at his joke.

"Nah, just trying to start a new chapter in my life. I hear that it's hard if you keep looking back at the old one."

"I understand completely. I did the same thing not too far back. Now look at me serving drinks to foals who never even heard of the labels on em."

"To drinking your troubles away." Maneard refilled both their glasses and promptly knocked his back.

"I like your style, lad. Y'ever had a Republican-Car-Bomb?"

"Can't say I have."

"Well let's fix that."

Shamrock turned his back for a moment and began fiddling with a handful of bottles. Maneard chuckled to himself while the Stallion swore loudly at Mixer for apparently putting a bottle back in the wrong place. When Shamrock turned back around he held a shot glass and a tankard of creamy looking chocolate colored alcohol. Maneard raised an eyebrow, Shamrock dumped the shot into the glass and shoved the tankard at him. Maneard took it and chugged. The insane drink felt and tasted like it looked: a rapidly solidifying mass of chocolate milk. He coughed violently soon as the last dregs of it were gone, Shamrock laughing loudly and slapping him on the back.

"I see were it got it's name." Maneard managed to hack out.

"That's most ponies' reaction. Here have another cider on the house."

"You're a saint."

"Tell me, why did you come to this little piss stain of a party?" Shamrock asked, lifting his own freshly refilled mug.

"I'm looking for someone."

"Mind if I ask who?"

"Not really as it's nopony in particlar."

"I don't think I follow ya."

"It's not that I'm really looking for them really," Maneard explained, taking a break to wet his throat, "more what they can lead me to."

"What's that?" asked Shamrock, leaning in to hear him better.

"Freedom." Maneard replied getting a bit of a grandiose air to his voice.

"Freedom. Well there's plenty of that round here isn't there?"

"Yes and no." Shamrock raised an eyebrow. "We are free, but not once we walk outside those doors, hell even in here the long foreleg of oppression reaches in. We can only truly be free if we take it."

"You're sounding a lot like a Republican right now mate." Shamrock warned.

"And if I am."

"Then there's only one thing for you to do." Shamrock paused for a moment, hastily scrawling something on a napkin, upending the drink that was previously resting on it. "Take this and go there tomorrow night. Tell 'em Shamrock sent ya, they'll know what that means." Maneard looked at the napkin with suspicion. Sure Shamrock was cool, but could he really be trusted? After all the only thing Maneard knew about him was his drinking habits. "Luna nobis custodit." Shamrock whispered, that was all he needed to hear.

* * *

><p>Black Diamond let out a low moan as she sunk into the tub. Work had been a real bitch, nothing but mountains of paper work to fill out for every damn Ponyville conspirator. That's what they had labeled them, conspirators. She didn't give a fuck what they were called so long as they were in her rear view mirror. She had drug her old tape deck out to play Maneard's speech, blowing an inch of dust off of it, and laughing to think that when the civies got there hands on them in a year or two it would be considered 'high tech'. The tape was scratchy and clearly made in the field with a hidden mic, but Maneard's voice rang clear and firm through the ocean of white noise.<p>

"My brothers and sisters," he let those words hang in the air for a moment, waiting for the crowd to fall silent, "we gather today not simply to join a movement. No we gather today for something much more ethereal and concrete than that. We gather because we know we are not free." he was interrupted by cheers, cheers which fell silent the moment he began again. "We gather because a tyrant says we cannot. We gather because a ruthless hoof crushes every glimmer of hope and justice that dares make itself known, all in the name of its own vain beliefs and name. We gather because Celestia and her Solar Empire say that we must obey. Well I say resist!" he shouted, the crowd went absolutely wild, but again they fell silent when he resumed. "They will say we are traitors all, that we wish nothing for Equestria than its destruction, that we are just a great tide of evil to be broken against the rocks of their loyalty. But we know that isn't true. We know we are the only ones willing to stand for something, rather than bow to everything. We know that their 'loyalty' is fear. Fear to stand, fear to see the truth, fear to throw everything away in the name of something which they have never known. Well I say let us cast off this fear, let us cast off this empire, let us cast off Celestia. Let us show that we are not afraid of them. That we will stand united in our end: freedom and equality for all. That we are committed to this cause until the bitter end. Whether we stand alive at the conclusion or not, we will bring change to this nation. With our collective dying breath we will call out for this, leaving our great note upon history. Long live Luna, long live the Republic, long live freedom." the crowd had steadily built with him in volume, and now they were going mad with adoration. The tape ended with cries of 'long live freedom' chorused by a thousand voices. Blood Diamond felt chills go down her spine.


End file.
